Chapter 175 I have to tell Li Changhe’s fortune!

In this era, due to the dual economic model between rural and urban areas, many things in rural areas are relatively scarce.

For example, cloth, condiments, alcohol, and even candy.

It’s not that these things are completely unavailable, but for rural families, many things are expensive and not cost-effective.

This led to a bronze and iron Buddha under Shen Juncheng accidentally discovering a business opportunity.

The man's name was Sun Guangde. He was not a city dweller, but an illegal resident who came to Beijing from a rural area. Because he was physically disabled, he could not find a formal job, so he picked up garbage to survive.

Then one time he came home and brought back a big bag of ribs and some sauce from the city.

In Beijing, you need a meat ticket to buy meat, but for parts like ribs and pork elbows, you don't need one and can just buy them with money at grocery stores.

But in rural areas, this thing is quite rare.

Although many rural areas raised pigs during this period, the pigs had to be handed over to the state. Even if they raised more pigs, they were generally sold for money, and only slaughtered one during festivals.

Some rural areas are far away from the city and it is impossible to buy a house even if you want to.

So when Sun Guangde brought the things back, it still caused some exclamations, and then some people came to his house quietly to buy some to satisfy their hunger.

That’s how Sun Guangde discovered the market. He could bring back some things from the city and then sell them in small portions.

But this also seems to be speculation, and he is also afraid of it.

After returning to the city, he hesitated for a long time, and finally told Shen Juncheng and others.

Then, a few people discussed it and decided to change the sale into an exchange, where they would just exchange things, but it would not make any money.

Shen Juncheng thought of what Li Changhe had said before about collecting old items, and felt that this idea was feasible. He then found a few honest and hardworking bronze and iron Buddhas and asked them to take the items to the countryside.

For example, soy sauce and vinegar are packaged in small portions, as well as liquor, food, and snacks.

In short, they would get whatever was scarce in the countryside, divide it into small portions, and then go down to exchange them for free.

Nowadays, many families in rural areas do not take old items seriously. Some are left by their ancestors, and some are acquired accidentally. However, after years of brainwashing, they no longer think these things are valuable.

So when you can exchange something for free, especially something that is relatively scarce, there are indeed many people who will do so.

But it’s hard to say how the stuff is.

After all, those bronze and iron Buddha statues don't know how to verify. They just look at whether the objects are old porcelain, old bronze and iron, and then exchange them, relying purely on luck.

Moreover, many of these things are actually very worn out, like a bright yellow porcelain bowl placed on the shelf in the room. It has been simply cleaned, but you can still see a lot of sticky rice stains inside, and it also emits a strange smell.

"We don't know whether these things are good or bad. See if you can find someone familiar to come and identify them later."

Shen Juncheng said to Li Changhe with a smile.

Li Changhe nodded: "Not only identification, but also cleaning."

Many of these old items are not cherished and are simply treated as garbage, so cleaning them up is a big project.

Li Changhe estimated that Zhang Shiqi would definitely not do this. According to his observation, this old man has a very high status in the antique circle and can be said to be a big shot.

However, Li Changhe could ask Zhang Shiqi to introduce one to him. At worst, he could just pay some money and help the person make some extra money.

"Here, look at this, this shouldn't need to be cleaned!"

At this time, Shen Juncheng pulled Li Changhe in mysteriously, and then pulled out a long wooden box from a pile of debris.

The wooden box is just over one meter long and about twenty centimeters wide. It is covered with dust, but you can vaguely see the texture and luster on the surface of the box.

“Is this a painting box?”

Li Changhe recognized the thing in front of him at a glance. It should have been used by people in the past to hide paintings.

The material of this kind of box is generally not bad, because whether it is used to store books or paintings, one thing that needs to be considered is insect-proof and moisture-proof.

"Did you recognize it? I spent fifty dollars and five pounds of spareribs on it."

“Look inside”

Shen Juncheng said with a smile.

Li Changhe opened the painting box out of curiosity. As expected, there was exquisite brocade inside the box, and two long scrolls wrapped in kraft paper. They looked like scrolls.

"This thing can be exchanged for fifty dollars?"

Li Changhe was a little surprised.

No matter how ignorant you are about this stuff, you can tell it is a good thing just by looking at the packaging.

"You don't know, there is a reason behind this."

"The seller knows this thing is good, but he doesn't dare to sell it openly."

"Because he stole it in the city during the chaos a few years ago."

"After stealing this thing, he knew it was risky and could easily cause trouble, so he kept it buried at home until our people arrived."

"Their family lives a very ordinary life, so poor that they can barely afford to eat. That day, they secretly exchanged with us for the spare ribs."

"Of course, he knew it was a good thing, and asked us to give him another 50 yuan. Finally, our people also thought it was a good thing, so they exchanged it for yuan plus the ribs in their hands."

Shen Juncheng explained the reason to Li Changhe with a smile.

After listening to this, Li Changhe was speechless.

“Whose painting is this?”

Li Changhe asked curiously.

Shen Juncheng shook his head: "It's not opened yet. We don't understand it either. When I saw the frame, I thought it was a good thing, so I didn't open it."

"You can take it away and have someone take a look at it. I think it must be something extraordinary."

You can tell just by looking at the mounting that something that can be so treasured must be a good thing.

"Okay, I'll take it back and have a look!"

"Calculate how much it cost to collect these things, and I'll give them to you then."

After all, these antiques were collected for Li Changhe. Even if they were exchanged for supplies, they were bought by Shen Juncheng and others, so there was a cost.

"That's easy. Sister Men San'er is keeping track of the account. I told her that I'll tell you when the account is rounded up."

"Okay, I'll take this back first, and I'll find someone to clean up the rest!"

Li Changhe took the wooden box and left with Shen Juncheng.

Then Li Changhe rode his bicycle to Zhang Shiqi's courtyard.

This time, Zhang Shiqi was rarely in the courtyard.

This year, with many of his old acquaintances returning to the capital, Zhang Shiqi was no longer as leisurely as before and started to get busy.

He even spent the Chinese New Year with a few old friends.

So now, if Li Changhe wants to meet him, it depends on luck.

But he was lucky today, as Zhang Shiqi was at home.

"You don't come to the temple for no reason!"

Zhang Shiqi saw the painting box in Li Changhe's hand at a glance, and said to Li Changhe with a smile.

Li Changhe didn't care and put the painting box in front of Lao Zhang.

"Good stuff, definitely good stuff, but we still don't know what's inside."

"Let me show you first, so you can take a look at it?"

"The golden nanmu painting box is obviously a good thing. Ordinary paintings don't deserve such a good painting box."

"Come on, go to your room and open the box on the rosewood table."

The two men came to Li Changhe's room, and then Zhang Shiqi placed the painting box on the wide rosewood bank.

"Where did you get this?"

Using a towel to gently wipe off the dust on the wooden box, Zhang Shiqi asked seriously.

"It's in a nearby village. It's said that the person stole it from the city more than ten years ago. He kept it hidden and didn't dare to reveal it to the public. Then my friend got it."

"Change?"

Zhang Shiqi was a little surprised.

"Yes, fifty dollars and five pounds of spare ribs."

Li Changhe said softly.

Zhang Shiqi was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he sighed.

"The world is ignorant!"

"Well, let's see what good stuff it is."

After Zhang Shiqi finished speaking, he opened the painting box, inside which were two long scrolls quietly placed side by side.

Zhang Shiqi first took out the long scroll on the left, then gently peeled off the kraft paper wrapped around it, revealing a yellowed scroll. Zhang Shiqi untied the string on the scroll and then slowly spread it out.

Li Changhe looked at the content of the painting curiously. It was a picture of moon-viewing with several people in it.

In addition, there are several seals on it.

When Zhang Shiqi saw the picture for the first time, his expression suddenly became solemn.

[Song of Water Melody: When Will the Bright Moon Appear]

There is also a poem next to the scroll, which is Su Shi’s “Water Melody”.

"I didn't expect this thing to actually exist. Boy, you're damn lucky!"

At this moment, Zhang Shiqi couldn't help but say to Li Changhe with emotion.

"Whose painting is this?"

Li Changhe asked curiously after hearing this.

"Zhao Ji, do you know who it is?"

"Song Huizong, the idiot who caused the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty."

How could Li Changhe not know who Zhao Ji was? Later historical articles online have criticized this loser to pieces.

"Yes, it is that Emperor Daojun. This is a painting he drew, a picture of admiring the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. And judging from the inscription above, the news back then might be true."

Zhang Shiqi said with emotion.

"what news?"

Li Changhe became interested when he heard what Lao Zhang said.

"Let's take a look at the other one first. If my guess is correct, it's no exaggeration to say that the other one is a rare treasure."

Zhang Shiqi put away the scroll and gently opened another one.

The other one is not a scroll, but a copy of calligraphy.

Li Changhe took a serious look and saw the same song: [Water Melody·When Will the Bright Moon Appear]

"The rumors back then were true. It turns out that this calligraphy really exists."

Zhang Shiqi said with emotion at this time.

"Mr. Zhang, don't keep us in suspense. Whose calligraphy is this?"

Li Changhe was speechless and kept sighing, wondering who this belonged to.

"You kid, you obviously know nothing about cultural relics, but this rare treasure has fallen into your hands."

"Didn't you see, Water Melody, you don't know who wrote it?"

At this time, Zhang Shiqi pointed at Li Changhe's name and asked.

“Su Shi wrote this!”

Li Changhe answered subconsciously, then his eyes widened.

"You said this is Su Shi's authentic work?"

"About fifty years ago, the capital was in turmoil, but suddenly a piece of news spread among the pawnshops."

"A pair of tomb robbers, a father and son, found a tomb of Cai Jing and found a rare treasure inside, the original manuscript of Su Shi's "Water Melody Song", which they called "Mid-Autumn Postscript"."

"At the time, this news was not widely circulated, and few people believed it."

"After all, few people have recorded the Mid-Autumn Post in history, so there is no way to tell whether it is real or fake."

"Besides, there were a lot of fakes back then. Who knows if they were just leaking the news to make a big profit?"

"But later I heard that someone had indeed seen Su Shi's "Mid-Autumn Postscript", and at the same time, a painting of "Mid-Autumn Moon Viewing Picture" by Emperor Daojun was also dug out."

"Look here, on this calligraphy, besides this poem, there are two seals, one is from Cai Jing, and the other, interestingly, is from Zhao Ji."

"Look at this painting again. The words on it are clearly written in the Slender Gold style. They might have been written by Zhao Ji himself."

"Here is the origin of this painting. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in the first year of Chongning, I admired the moon and read Su Shi's poems. Nothing could be better than this!"

"In the first year of Chongning, in September of that year, the famous Yuanyou Party Membership Monument was erected."

"So historically speaking, this piece of Su Shi's calligraphy should have been brought to Zhao Ji by Cai Jing. Zhao Ji looked down on Su Shi's calligraphy, so he painted it and also wrote the poem "Water Melody: When Will the Bright Moon Appear?" and then gave it to Cai Jing as a reward."

Zhang Shiqi analyzed it seriously.

Li Changhe listened quietly.

"So these two paintings are authentic?"

Li Changhe said with surprise at this time.

It's okay if it's Zhao Ji's, but if this calligraphy by Su Shi is really an authentic one, then it would be very valuable.

"Authentic?"

"I think it's probably authentic, but whether it's authentic or not is not for me to say."

Zhang Shiqi shook his head and said to Li Changhe.

"It is very difficult to judge the authenticity of a rare treasure like this. First of all, we have to find as much historical evidence as possible. For example, is there any record of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the first year of Chongning in history?"

"Secondly, are the handwriting and paintings on it actually from Zhao Ji and Su Shi?"

"Whether this is true or not, I alone have no say!"

"If this kind of calligraphy really comes to light, the best way to verify its authenticity is to gather several well-known people in the industry to appraise it together."

"Everyone believes it is authentic, so it will be judged as authentic."

"But once this thing comes out, you can imagine the sensation it will cause."

"Why didn't the collector make it public? I think he was afraid of getting killed. This kind of rare treasure is priceless."

"Now, if you want to make it public, that's fine."

"But if it is really an authentic work, to be honest, it is unlikely that you will keep it. The Palace Museum will 99% likely negotiate with you to buy it."

"When the time comes, will you sell it or not?"

At this time, Zhang Shiqi asked Li Changhe with a smile.

Li Changhe shook his head: "Forget it, let's not show this thing for now."

This thing is a family heirloom, and most importantly, it can be used as the treasure of his museum.

The premise is that it is true.

"Mr. Zhang, please tell me for sure, do you think this is true or false?"

Li Changhe asked Zhang Shiqi seriously at this time.

Zhang Shiqi lowered his head and looked at it carefully again, then slowly said: "From the perspective of the paper and the style of the handwriting, this painting by Zhao Ji should be authentic. As for Su Shi's "Mid-Autumn Postscript", I haven't seen many of his calligraphy, so it's hard to judge."

“I personally think that there is a high probability that it is true.”

"For this kind of identification, it is actually most convenient to ask a calligraphy master, such as Qi Gong, to do the identification. I remember that the Palace Museum has several treasures of Su Shi, and we can compare them when the time comes."

"But I still say that once this thing sees the light of day, the chances of you keeping it are slim."

Li Changhe nodded. He didn’t know whether these two things really existed in his previous life. They might have been sold or they might have been collected by someone and not made public.

After all, it is possible that someone has hidden this rare treasure.

"Put it away first. This thing is not suitable to see the light of day yet!"

Li Changhe thought about it and decided not to authenticate it. Regardless of whether it was real or not, he would just keep it.

When my status and identity have improved and the country's reform and opening up have been standardized, I can then release this thing into the world.

Anyway, Li Changhe had no intention of taking these treasures away, so he would definitely leave them in the country.

"Well, let's keep it for now. When there's a chance, we can publish it later. Paintings are fine, but if it's Su Shi's "Mid-Autumn Postscript", it would be incredible if it were real."

"What kind of luck is this, kid? This kind of thing is hard to come by in a thousand years, and it has fallen into your hands."

There is no inscription on the copy of calligraphy, which means that if it is an authentic work, it has been hidden in Cai Jing's tomb for a thousand years and has not been damaged, nor has it been collected by others during this period.

The person who collected it earlier didn’t have a seal either. He must have had bad luck, as he lived in a turbulent era.

In the end, the item fell into Li Changhe's hands intact.

What a great luck this is. Apart from anything else, Cai Jing's real tomb and fake tomb have been dug up more or less over the years, but only this thing can be preserved. It's simply a miracle.

At this time, Zhang Shiqi thought of the fact that the Dragon and Phoenix Seal fell into Li Changhe's hands by chance last time.

This kind of fortune is really unimaginable.

Should I find someone to tell this kid's fortune?
At this moment, Zhang Shiqi suddenly thought of it.

(Not today)
(End of this chapter)